Canonization.
Saints are members of the Church Triumphant.
The feast of All Saints reminds us that all saints are not canonized, since everyone who goes to heaven is in effect a saint. The canonization process recognizes those who by God’s Providence have an established cultus, that is, enjoy the veneration of the faithful. These are men and women whose lives are held up as an example to the entire Church. Generally speaking, if they are not martyrs, they are considered confessors of the faith. They are canonized for their heroic witness of the faith, which is marked by heroic virtue. Canonized saints are never canonized for charismata exhibited in their lives. Miracles performed by God, attributed to their intercession after their death, remain the principal criteria for the Church to determine whether or not the particular person is in heaven.
An article of faith.
A saint may not be canonized without prior declaration of heroic virtue. This is a process which involves designations in degree - such as Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and then finally, Saint. Once the saint is canonized, the faithful must believe those canonized are in heaven, though some theologians may disagree with this. Having said that, the faithful are not required to believe the grounds presented for their sanctity, nor the miracles alleged to have been obtained through their intercession. We are only required to believe the defined doctrine itself. Therefore, though we are obliged to venerate the saints with the entire Church - in and through the liturgy, as in the celebration of feast days and memorials - we are in no way required to have a particular or personal devotion to this or that saint.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina.
For instance, the latest brouhaha over the stigmata of St. Padre Pio. An author of a new book suggests that Padre Pio inflicted the stigmata upon himself. The author came to this conclusion after locating a document in the Vatican archives to support this claim. I for one do not believe any of the author’s claims, and suspect it is something from that period in Padre’s life when his enemies, among whom were bishops and priests, sought to defame the saint and his virtue. The story does not shake my faith.
That said, St. Pio was not canonized for his stigmata, rather for his heroic virtue and confession of the faith. As Catholics, we are obliged only to accept the Church’s definition and decree that St. Pio is a saint - the declaration he is in heaven. (Although it seems to me, only a fool would deny the example of his sanctity and union with God, as evidenced by the stigmata, mystical phenomena, and numerous miracles during his earthly life.)
Public veneration.
In the early Church, only martyrs were declared saints, while later, as the persecution of Christians diminished, those who had lived the faith heroically, confessors, began to be canonized. Among others, these early saints comprised the Fathers of the Church, the desert monks, and so on. Early on, saints became saints through a definitive popular cultus. In other words, the faithful sought to honor this or that person who possessed a viable reputation for holiness during their life, while their reputation for sanctity increased after their death, in so far as the faithful continued to hold their memory in great esteem and veneration.
However, it was up to the bishop to recognize and confirm the saints reputation of sanctity, and formally confirm that he had indeed gone to heaven, thus permitting public veneration. As I understand it, up until the 12th century, the local bishop was permitted to confirm the cult, that is, to beatify a local. Although I believe the right to proclaim a person a saint has always been reserved to the Roman Pontiff.
Beatification.
Though anyone may venerate any person we piously believe to be in heaven, such veneration may never take place publicly. Public veneration is accorded only to those who have been beatified or canonized by the Church. Traditionally, in the case of beatification, the person is acknowledged to be in heaven, yet his cult is more or less affirmed for a local region, country, religious order, and so on.
While all of the faithful may honor the beatified with prayers, and promote his cause publicly, the person has not yet been canonized. What this means is that the cult or veneration of the beatified, though permitted, has not been extended, or made obligatory to the Universal Church. Accordingly, the faithful are not obliged to believe a person declared blessed (that is, from time immemorial or from popular acclaim, as in the case of Juliana of Norwich) is in heaven, unless of course there has been a formal decree signed by the Pope. In modern times, such a disspute would be considered rather presumptuous, especially since proclamations of beatification “develop and proceed only by means of an extensive procedure of verification”, and are always approved and signed into action by the Pope himself.
Canonization.
Canonization presents the beatified to the entire Church for veneration and honor through the official, irrefutable definition of the persons sanctity. In other words, the declaration of the title saint means that the person is in fact in heaven, and is designated as a model and help to all Catholics, worthy of honor and veneration, and his name has been inserted into the canon of Saints.
God alone makes saints, the Church honors and gives glory to God’s work in recognizing his saints, while affirming the devotion of the faithful who venerate and seek the help of God’s chosen ones. It remains important to us, the Church Militant, to promote the causes of the saints, to inspire the world and prove that we are all called to sainthood, which is our final goal - eternal beatitude in God’s presence. A blogger whom I respect wrote the following as regards the interest a Catholic ought to take in the canonization of saints: “Raising someone to the altars is a public act, that affects the faithful, and consequently affects their piety.” I couldn’t agree more, since the saints, in union with Jesus Christ, inspire and help perfect our faith, while we strive to become saints ourselves in living out the Beatitudes.
Sources for this post: Catholic Truth Society, Monsignor P. E. Hallet - reprinted at Catholic Culture.org .
